


The Little Reaper

by linkingworlds



Category: Rise of the Guardians (2012)
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, Major Original Character(s), Original Character(s)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-09-13
Updated: 2013-09-13
Packaged: 2017-12-26 11:01:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 569
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/965172
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/linkingworlds/pseuds/linkingworlds
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jana Time is, as the humans would call her, a Grim Reaper. She despises humans for their cold, callous ways, and is rather indifferent to each death she presides over. During a routine assignment, she meets the playful Jackson Overland, and though she cannot explain why, he fascinates her. She begins to watch over him, curious about the boy who is nothing like the awful humans she has known. Soon, she begins to wish she could be human too, to know him and to know what it is like to have friends, and she will do anything to achieve this.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Little Reaper

The first time I met Jackson Overland was something less than magical. He was just a silly human, and, as a Reaper, I had no reason to care about him. In fact, I held nothing more than contempt for the pathetic little creatures. They were careless and cruel, and while I did not wish harm upon most of them, I certainly did not want to get to know one.

Even more…I never thought I would end up _saving_ one.

In my most recent assignments, I had found myself in Burgess, Pennsylvania on multiple occasions. There was a sickness going around, and though Father Time talked of a future with healthier people, something as small as a child’s sneeze could mean certain death. Many of the older folk passed, and so I visited frequently, assisting a number of souls in moving on. Frustratingly, each assignment meant I would be forced to see that bloody brunette.

He always seemed carefree, much more like a child than a teenager, and nowhere near being the adult he was expected to be. What with his habit of constantly playing pranks and teasing his younger sister, not to mention the rest of the townsfolk…he was obnoxious and infuriating and I couldn’t stand to look at him.

The choice, however, wasn’t mine.

I would see him again and again, and I will admit that I played a couple tricks on him myself. Typically, he shrugged it off and laughed, not even slightly worried about phantom snowballs or tripping over things that weren’t there. Any other villager would have been terrified and at their wit’s end, but not Jack, no. What use did he have for fear when he could have fun, instead?

I realized how intrigued I was after our fifth meeting. I had gone home to my castle, swearing up a storm, and soon spilling my proverbial guts to my brother, Garrett. He was anything but sympathetic, instead laughing at my fury and telling me that I couldn’t possibly hate humans as much as I claimed to. He even dared suggesting I might be falling for the brat, perhaps as some sort of ill-thought joke. I knew my brother was wrong, though he didn’t believe me when I told him so.

Jackson was just…different. He was a strange sort of human, and that interested me. I had no feelings for him beyond those of curiosity. It was simple as that.

Or so I tried to tell myself.

The next time I saw him, he surprised me. Instead of his usual tricks and mischief, he was actually being sort of…friendly. I lost an entire day, somehow getting caught up in watching him joke with the local girls, playing innocent games with his sister and helping a few elders with chores and the like. I saw a completely different side of him, and I started to think that his games, however impish, didn’t mean he was as impudent as most humans. Maybe, just maybe, he was no more than an average, everyday trickster, hiding a kind heart.

I stopped by Burgess a few more times in the following weeks, though I had no justifiable reason to. I came just to watch him, to see this fascinating human boy. He was unlike the millions I had seen before him, and that…that amazed me.

Who knew humans could be so different from one another?

**Author's Note:**

> This is not only an AU of the canon Rise of the Guardians film universe, but also an AU of Jana's story. It's based off of Disney's The Little Mermaid. That being said, I do not own RotG or The Little Mermaid.
> 
> I hope you enjoy this fic, and I hope to be posting more soon. c: Please review/subscribe/etc!


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